Shaft for golf clubs



Dec. 13, 1932. 1 w HADDE4N 1,890,538

SHAFT FOR GOLF CLUBS Filed Nov. 30. 1928 2 She ts-She et 1 Away T04WZbL/A W JAMES HA D05 Dec. 13, 1932. w A DEN v 1,890,538

SHAFT FOR GOLF CLUBS Filed Nov. so, 1928 w 2 Sheets-She et 2 Fly. 5. iv

INVEN Ton WILL/AM J/WES 1705 Patented Dec. 13, 1932 UNITED STATESPATENT' OFFl CE WILLIAM JAMES HADDEN,OF GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, ASSIGNOR TODONALDSON MANUFACTURING COMPANY LIMITED, OF GLASGOW, SCOTLAND SHAFT FORGOLF CLUBS Application filed November 80, 1928,8eria1 No. 322,846, andin Great Britain October 28, 1928.

This invention relates to shafts for golf clubs.

In connection with golf clubs it is desirable that the shaft be so madethat it can be readi- 6 1y attached to and detached from the head inorder that various sizes and Weights of shaft can be made, and a shaftof a suitable size and weight can be selected and secured to a selectedhead, and the club tried by the user, and

10 if found unsuitable can be readily removed and replaced by anothershaft, and so on, until a suitable shaft is selected.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a shaft for thepurpose specified above, and which will be simple and cheap to produce.

A further object is to produce a shaft of which the number of parts arereduced to an absolute minimum and thereby the cost of production isminimized and the strength and accuracy of the club increased.

In the drawings Fig. 1 illustrates atubular metallic shaft as applied toa golf club head, the head being 26 shown partly in section and beingpartly broken away, while the middle of the shaft is-also broken away.

Fig. 2 illustrates a modification of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 illustrates a wooden shaft applied 30 to a golf club head, thehead being partly in section-to show the shaft clearly, and the head andthe shaft partly broken away.

Fig. 4 illustrates a modification of Fig. 3.

Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8 illustrate the different stages in one method ofmanufacturing the shaft, Fig. 5 illustrating part of the ta ered tubefrom which the shaft is formed, Fig. 6 illustrating the tap and part ofthe shaft, Fig.7 illustrating the bending operation and Fig. 8 showing apart of the finished-shaft.

y In Fig. 1 of the drawings, the numeral} de- *inotes a tubular metallicshaft preferably of relatively thin highly tempered steel, ta-

pered gradually from one end 2, at which the grip (not shown) is fixed,to its other, and

smaller, end the taper being slight for example, about .007. Thissmaller end hasa tapered part 3 and a screw threaded part 4. The head 5is provided with a socket portion 6 which is internally tapered at 7 tocorrespond with the tapered part 3 on the shaft and is provided with ascrew threaded part 8. The screw threaded parts serve to draw thetapered parts 3 and 7 together to give a frictional, or wedging,inter-engagement which serves to hold the parts together. The screwthreaded part may be made in the manner to be hereinafter described.

The screw threaded parts are preferably left handedfor a right hand cluband right handed for a left hand club so that the act of hitting theball tends to tighten the head on the shaft.

In the modification shown in Fig. 2, the shaft is the same as that inFig. 1 except that the part 3 of the shaft is only tapered to the dottedline marked II and, below this, is a cylindrical, or parallel sided,part 12. A screw threaded part 4 is provided at the end of the shaftas-before. By providing this cy- 7o lindrical part the shaft will have atravel sub stantially equal to the length of the cylindrical part tocompensate for any inequalities in troduced during manufacture and willthus ensure proper frictional, or wedging, interengagement of thetapered parts.

In Fig. 3 the tapered wooden shaft 15 is provided with a taperedmetallic part 16 const tuting a shoe and this shoe has, at its smallerend, a screw threaded part 17 which may be made by bending the metal ina manner to be hereinafter described. This shoe is fixed to the shaft bya cross pin 18'or by an adhesive or by other means, and by expanding thewood into the convolution of the screw threaded part by means of atapered screw 19;

Fig. 4 illustrates a modification of the wooden shaft construction ofFig. 3 in which all the parts are the same as those in Fig. 3

and are designated by the same reference part 12 in Fig. 2.

As hereinbefore stated, the screw threaded I part on the shaft is madeby abending action.

This is necessary because the metal must be thin for lightness and yetstiff for screwing securely into the head and also for giving thenecessary rigidity in the use of the club. In addition, on a woodenshaft, the metal part must be thin in order that the size of the shaftmay be sufficient to give the necessary strength and the socket part ofthe head made as small as possible to keep down its weight. With thinmetal cutting or reducing thereof weakens the same and therefore thismust be avoided and in order to do so the screw is made by bending themetal into convolutions without cutting or otherwise reducing itsthickness. This may be attained by amethod, the sta es whereof areillustrated in Figs. 5 to 8 o? the accompanying drawings which latterillustrate, by way of example, the method when applied to tubular metalshafts. Under this method the tapered tubular metallic shaft as partlyshown in Fig. 5 is taken and into the small end 26 of this shaft isintroduced. as indicated in Fig. 6, a tap in the form of a spigot 26'having a rounded helical groove 27 on its periphery and having a stock28 at one end. The stock 28 projects from one end and can be mounted ina lathe 31 or other machine for rotating the tap and shaft, and, whilerotating, the metal is acted on, as shown in Fig. 7, by a v tool 29having a round nose '30. vThis tool acts to force the metal by a bendingaction into the rounded helical groove of the tap so that it conformsthereto. When the tap and shaft are mounted in a lathe, the tool can becarried by the lathe slide rest. 'After the screw has been formed, thetap and shaft are removed from the lathe or other machine andthen thetap is removed from the shaft by turning it relatively to the shaft. Theproduct obtained is a shaft with 'a screwed endpart, as shown in Fig. 8,in

which the screw is formed merely by bending the metal without reducingits thickness by cutting action or by otherwise weakening it. The socket6 of the head is screw cut, in known manner, to conform to the thread onthe shaft.

-I claim:

1-. A tapering shaft of relatively thin highly tempered steel, for golfclubs, said shaft having a slight taper towards its lower end and aportion of the metal thereof at its lower end being itself bent intohelical screw formation of uniform diameter substantially the same asthe smallest diameter of the tapering part of the shaft, a plaincylindrical clearance ortion on the shaft separating the screw tiireadedand tapering parts and of diameter not greater than the smallestdiameter of the tapering part, the metal of the shaft being of uniformthickness throughout the length of the tapering, screw threaded andcylindrical clearance parts.

2. A wood shaft for golf clubs having a tapering metallic shoe at thelower end thereof, said shoe having a slight taper towards its lowerend, and a portion of the metal thereof at its lower end being itselfbent into helical screw formation without thickening reinforcing orcutting the metal or reducing its thickness, the diameter of said screwthreaded part being uniform throughout its length and substantially thesame as the smallest diameter of the tapering part of the shoe, 'theshoe being formed completely in one integral piece being hollowthroughout its length, and the metal thereof bein of uniform thicknessthroughout the length of the tapering and screw threaded parts, the woodshaft fitting snugly in the shoe for the full" depth thereof, withportions extending:

into and filling the threads.

3. A wood shaft for golf clubs having a tapering metallic shoe at thelower end thereof, said shoe having a slight taper towards its lowerend, and a portion of the metal thereof at-its lower end being itselfbent into helical screw formation without thickening reinforcing orcutting the metal or reducing its thickness, the diameter of said screwthreaded part being uniform throughout its length and substantially thesame as the smallest diameter of the tapering part of the shoe .the shoebeing formed complete] in one integral piece being hollow throug out itslength, and the metal thereof bein of uniform thickness throughout thelength of the tapering and screw threaded arts, and means for expandingthe wood of the shaft into the convolutions of the screwed part of theshoe.

4. In a golf club, a head having a socket formed by a tapered portionand an internally threaded portion, a shaft tapered towards its lowerend and terminating in a cylindrical shank extending from the lower endof its tapered portion and formed with threads leading from its lowerend and terminating in spaced relation to the u per end of the shank,the threads on said sl'lank engaging the threads in said socket, thethread metallic shell said shell having a cylindrical portion and aportion at its lower end bent upon itself into helical screw formation,the diameter of the said helical screw portion being uniform throughoutits length and of larger diameter than the diameter of said cylindricalportion and of substantially the same diameter as the smallest diameterof the tapered socket in said head, said tapered metallic shell formingan intimate connection with the said tapered socket when said metallicshell is screwed into said socket.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

l5 WILLIAM JAMES HADDEN.

